The second wizard sighed.

"Alright boys, present yourself." said the second wizard.

"My name's Radu! I'm a ground elementalist! I'm a middle-ranker as well! I'm really strong, a great addition to your royal guard team!"

"My name is Darius… I'm, uh, a lightning elementalist. I'm still a low rank… But I promise I'll get stronger."

Radu suddenly becomes angry.

"Hey, now, now, you're not even a middle rank, and you cry to join the strongest team ever? Get your ass out of here and actually fight for once, baby. You sound as if yo' mama would speak louder, you'd cry." said Radu, pissed off. He didn't want to lose his spot on the team because of Darius.

"Boys, chill out, we need four royal guards. You're perfect as you are right now." said the second wizard.

"Are you out of your mind? They're worthless! They're not even a high ranker like Ares!" said the first wizard.

"So what? We can't waste any time! You know damn well that the plates will shut down soon enough and that we can't light them up ourselves!" said the second wizard.

stefan3B clears his throat.

"Ahem, ahem, now, will you mind explaining to us what this is all about?"

The wizards stop talking, and they stare at stefan3B for a few seconds before regaining a tall posture and speaking once more.

"A long time ago, there used to be a mighty warrior whom we decided to nickname 'The Champion'. He is the true creator of the Other Lands. He was a man, an example to follow, a model in life. His heart and actions were pure, just like his element, Divine Light. We believe that The Champion knew that one day he would die, and so he created the four golden plates, hidden in four different locations. Those golden plates would repel all the evil that exists. Recently, the plates have weakened, which has allowed energy sources from outside the Other Lands to penetrate within. For example, the arrival of stefan3B. We are extremely afraid that the capital evil of the disintegration element will strike at full force within our land." said the second wizard.

"DISINTEGRATION ELEMENT??!! WE'RE FIGHTING AGAINST THE DISINTEGRATION ELEMENT??!! Isn't the disintegration element one of the banned elements?!" said Radu in sheer despair.

"Correct. And that's why the royal guards must defend against it. For the lives of those nine thousand elementalists and yours as well." continued the second wizard.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, why is disintegration banned?" asked stefan3B.

Everyone started to look at him weirdly.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Ares.

"I guess so… It does sound powerful. But what does it look like?" asked stefan3B.

"It's like… Red, a dark red! It's impossible to not be distinguished from literally every other element." said Radu.

"Anyways, boys, come on in. We'll explain the plan." said the second wizard.

All of them go to the altar. To stefan3B's surprise, the interior looked way more basic. Sure, there were several bookshelves and weapons, such as swords and shields, but nothing magic or special, to say the least. He did not comment on anything about it, though. On the wall, there was a large map of the Other Lands. The second wizard grabs a long wooden rod and starts explaining.

"stefan3B, since you have no powers, you will be going to Pearl Canyon."

"Pearl Canyon? Why's it named like that?" asked Radu.

"Glad you asked. Back when The Champion was still around here, he fought with the elder champion of the dark element. The Champion released such a power attack that split the ground in two, creating a rift around 50 meters deep and 100 meters wide with a length of 10 kilometers. For an unknown reason, the energy of the attack altered the atomic composition of the soil, turning it into stone with a washed pink color, something like a pearl." said the first wizard.

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"We'll give you these four little orbs. One for each. They should show around where the plates are." said the third wizard as he gave each boy an orb.

"Now, ground elementalist." said the second wizard.

Radu instantly spiked up and struck a straight, military-like stance.

"Yes, sir!" said Radu proudly.

"You will go to The Forgotten Mines. The Forgotten Mines used to be a main source of rare materials, but after years of digging within, it suddenly became a hazard, and all activity was canceled. The entrance was sealed with rocks and painted to look like a normal part of The Grand Mountain. Your task should be the simplest, you just have to dig wherever the orb tells you. It's impossible for anything to lurk around there." said the second wizard.

"SIR, YES, SIR!!" exclaimed Radu loudly.

"Ugh, shut up, God damn it, or at least don't shout next to me." said Ares.

But Radu didn't care, he kept on smiling brightly and standing straight. stefan3B at this point, is just tired of his existence. Darius still doesn't know what is going on.

"Alright, Ares! Your turn. You'll go to the magma geysers. They're located on top of the grand mountain. You'll have to climb 2 kilometers up the mountain in order to reach it. I know it'll be very cold for you, but once you reach the top, you'll be greeted with the fresh warmth of the geysers." said the second wizard.

"Alright, fair enough." said Ares.

"And now you, lightning boy." said the first wizard.

"Huh? Me? I'll be put on missions too?"

"Of course! Why are you even here if not to fight and "get stronger"?" said the first wizard.

Darius pouts as he gets slightly embarrassed and looks away.

"Anyways, you'll go to The Shining Peak. The Shining Peak is… The peak… Of the largest mountains in Other Lands. Its peak is surrounded by clouds and pierces through them. It's said that light shines the brightest there." said the second wizard.

"Alright, I guess…" said Darius.

"Ok, boys, now that you know what to do, go! Save the Other Lands!" said the third wizard.

"Wait, hold on. You're the grand wizards, right? Why don't you go to activate the plates?" asked stefan3B, slightly pissed off.

"We already tried. They tried with me. It didn't work. We need four elementalists. The wizards lost their elemental powers because of The Champion's blessing." said Ares.

"Elementalists? I am not an elementalist!"

"Yes, but we're brothers, so you must have some elementalist genes in you."

"You would really believe what a clone of me would say?"

"If there's anyone who could've made that clone, it's father. So of course I believe it." said Ares.

stefan3B sighs, as he has no words to further this argument, calming down at the same time.

"Fine, I'll do it." said stefan3B, slightly more energetic now.

"Alright then, boys, split up!"

Everyone then splits out. Radu and Ares go together, and Darius and stefan3B go all alone.

As stefan3B was going to the Pearl Canyon, he started to think about certain things. Who could've created Orange? Was Ares really his brother? But most importantly, will he be able to activate the plate alone? All of those thoughts stormed inside his mind constantly, but he was not afraid.

It took about 20 minutes worth of running until stefan3B finally reached the Pearl Canyon. Just as the wizards said, it was a really big split in the ground, made from rock with a pearl-like color. It was just rock, though, nothing special. stefan3B takes out his orb, and he sees that it has started to glow faintly. He puts it back in his pocket, then jumps down the canyon, sliding on the walls for a bit before kicking off and safely landing down. stefan3B looks around, but there's nothing interesting to look at. The air was fresh, and the atmosphere was rather soothing for such a weird and uncanny place. He takes out his orb once more and looks at it, but, for no reason, the orb stopped glowing fully. stefan3B is extremely confused by it. He shakes the orb a little bit, but he sees his arm blur out and split in 4.

"What the hell? Am I hallucinating? Is this place driving me crazy?" he asked himself.

He hears a girlish laughter behind him, so he turns around quickly, but when he does so, the entire scenery starts blurring out fully into several illusions overlapped against each other. stefan3B starts losing balance, but he supports himself against the wall. He closes his eyes and rubs his forehead. Out of nowhere, a punch hits the right side of his face harshly. stefan3B quickly opens his eyes and looks around, but nothing can be seen.

"What the hell…"

Suddenly, he's kicked in the back and pushed forward. stefan3B quickly stabilizes himself and turns around, then dashes and goes for a punch, but inevitably misses. He is then kicked in the head. He backs off a bit and rubs his jaw. stefan3B activates sword mode, and he's able to sense the energy of the attacker.

"Found you!" shouted stefan3B.

It was… A girl? But stefan3B didn't care. He dashed right at her and grabbed her by the neck, then slammed her into the wall. He then went for a sucker punch, but she disappeared as soon as the punch was supposed to land.

"What the fuck is going on? I'm not losing to cowards! Fight me! Like the man that you are!" shouted stefan3B.

"Actually… How about you show a bit more chivalry to a lady?" said the girl.

stefan3B spotted her. He turns off his sword mode to not exhaust himself.

"Who are you?!" said stefan3B loudly.

"You can call me Daiana. Here's my business card if you prefer it." said she before throwing a card with her name and phone number.

stefan3B instantly rips the card and throws it away.

"If you have a crush on me, just say it, no need to crush me literally." said stefan3B angrily.

"Aww, mama's boy wants to cry about love? Sob some more, you son of a bitch." said Daiana.

She sounded like she was his age as well.

"Who sent you on a suicide mission?" asked stefan3B.

"Your mom. No joke's intended, of course. I'm a professional assassin. She also tips, What a nice lady~"

Upon taking a better look at her, she has an elementalist coat he's never seen before. It was a pearl color as well, being able to camouflage into the canyon extremely well.

"I'm going to rip every single living tissue out of you…" said stefan3B as he looked her dead in the eyes.

"Try to beat what isn't in your sight!" said Daiana before using her abilities again.

stefan3B's vision blurs again. She rushes him for a strike, but stefan3B stands still and activates sword mode right before she would strike, giving him enough time to parry her strike and land a powerful blow in her face. Daiana slides on her back for a long distance on the ground.

"So if I move my eyes, I'll get blurred. And her powers don't work if I enter this mode. I can keep it for just a few more minutes, I've been using it all the time today. I don't want to repeat what happened at the hill…" said stefan3B in his mind.

He quickly turned his mode off, then stepped back. His vision instantly split into four.

"You useless junk… That's cheating! Stop nullifying my illusion element!" yelled Daiana from the ground.

stefan3B realized that she thinks that her powers are useless against him. He smiles deviously.

"Yes, of course I did. Even a cockroach would be able to see through your lies."

"I've never heard of a cockroach before, but I can tell you are one." said Daiana as she stood up and raised her guard, then approached stefan3B.

stefan3B could barely see her, but he kept his cool. He realized that she would resort to close-quarters combat. Daiana approaches and throws a jab with her right hand. stefan3B backs off and dodges the jab at just the right time. Daiana continues to assault stefan3B and throws several jabs, none of which is hit because stefan3B keeps backing out of her effective range. stefan3B eventually reaches one side of the canyon and bumps into it. Daiana throws a jab, this time with more power. stefan3B catches her fist with both of his hands.